A small federal purchase is not automatically outside the confidentiality rule published January 13, 2017. The FAR agencies declined to waive the appropriations restriction for acquisitions at or below the simplified acquisition threshold and for commercial-item contracts and subcontracts, including commercially available off-the-shelf items. The mechanism follows public purchasing funds rather than an assumption that only large bespoke contracts matter. [2016-31497]

For suppliers, the relevant restriction concerns internal agreements blocking lawful reports of government-contract waste, fraud or abuse to designated federal investigative or law-enforcement representatives authorized to receive them. Offerors must make the required representation to remain eligible for award. Contractors must also notify existing employees and subcontractors about conflicting restrictions and pass the substance of the clause into subcontracts. [2016-31497]

The January 2016 proposal explains the original balance: implement the funding restriction without displacing classified-information nondisclosure requirements. The final rule retains that limit. Removing a barrier to an authorized report is therefore different from opening proprietary or classified material to unrestricted public disclosure. The two documents trace one proceeding, not independent evidence of lower procurement costs. [2016-31497][2016-01050]

Scheduled effectiveness was January 19. Covered funding dates, existing comparable clauses and specified personal-services exceptions still matter; small purchase size is not a substitute for those distinctions. The final definition excludes civil-litigation agreements and agreements required by federal agencies. The competitive question is how suppliers implement the bounded reporting channel, not whether this publication proves that compliance became cheaper. [2016-31497]

Source documents

  1. Federal Acquisition Regulation; Contractor Employee Internal Confidentiality Agreements or Statementshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-13/html/2016-31497.htm
  2. Federal Acquisition Regulation: Contractor Employee Internal Confidentiality Agreementshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-01-22/html/2016-01050.htm